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R.Y. Narayanan

Coimbatore , Oct. 11

THE Rs 1,000-crore Kalyan group, which has a significant presence in the jewellery and textiles retail trade in Kerala, is making a foray into Tamil Nadu by opening its first showroom in Coimbatore.

The group has firmed up plans for expanding its presence by opening showrooms in Chennai, Salem, Madurai and Tiruchi.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr K. Ramesh, Executive Director, Kalyan Jewellers, said the group had initially been in the textiles business.

It was also into manufacture of gold ornaments, catering to the needs of wholesalers and was also exporting gold jewellery. It had a manufacturing base for jewellery in Coimbatore, engaging around 350 artisans for making gold ornaments.

After being in the jewellery export activity for nearly half a century, the company decided to enter retail business in 1993 and has since been expanding its presence in the retail jewellery business as well.

Asked about the choice of Coimbatore, he said the company's showroom in Palakkad in Kerala had a steady clientele from Coimbatore and it wanted to capitalise on that. It has invested about Rs 150 crore in the Coimbatore project that includes the value of stock — both textile and jewellery — apart from investment in building.

Mr Ramesh said after Coimbatore, the company would be entering Chennai and Salem markets. While the investment in Salem will be less than the investment made in Coimbatore, Chennai would involve a substantially higher investment since there were already big players there.

Asked whether all its projects would be an integrated jewellery and textile project, he said while big projects like in Salem or Chennai would be integrated projects having both textile and jewellery outle.

Asked whether the Kerala market is getting saturated, as big brands of retail jewellery houses _ recently Alukkas opened a mega showroom in Coimbatore _ he said the company owned 12 retail showrooms in Kerala and it was also expanding there. The company relied on "less profit, more turnover, good service, good quality products" to propel its growth.

Later addressing a news conference, Mr T.S. Kalyanaraman, Managing Director, Kalyan Jewellers, said the company had done a market survey in Coimbatore that showed that shops that stocked a large number of products that were contemporary in design and were priced reasonably would flourish despite stiff competition.

Mr T.S. Ramachandran, Managing Director, Kalyan Sarees, said the group has a total annual turnover of about Rs 1,000 crore.

More Stories on : Retailing | Gems & Jewellery | Textiles | Tamil Nadu

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